WATCH: Traffic Lights Go out in Auburn, Maine and Drivers Don’t Know What to Do
It's one of the basic rules of driver education that so many people just can't seem to remember, or if they do, they choose to ignore it.
On Wednesday afternoon, the traffic light at the busy intersection of Center, Turner and Union Streets in Auburn was without power. This intersection has traffic entering it from four different angles with 12 lanes, so it can be a bit of a mess even when the traffic light is functioning.
We all should know that if a traffic light isn't working properly, you should treat the intersection as if it was a four-way stop. Yet police are always having to remind drivers like the Westbrook Police did when a traffic light wasn't working in 2020.
According to Maine traffic laws, "The operator of a vehicle at intersecting public ways has the right-of-way over a vehicle on the operator's left and must yield the right-of-way to one on its right. An operator of a vehicle who intends to turn left must yield the right-of-way to a vehicle approaching from the opposite direction when the approaching vehicle is within the intersection or so close as to constitute an immediate hazard."
Pretty basic stuff there too, but the right-of-way often gets ignored as well.
Larry Morse was at the intersection in Auburn with the malfunctioning traffic light shooting video of the chaos that was happening and later posted it to the Lewiston Rocks Facebook group.
You'll have to tilt your head a little because right after the video starts, the camera gets turned but doesn't correct itself to orient itself to the screen correctly, but you'll get the idea of just how it was a free-for-all for many drivers.
Also, there is some very adult language in the video so as they say on HBO, "viewer discretion is advised."
It appears there weren't any accidents, but probably a lot of road rage from drivers.
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